Joe Taylor of Flint smiles with his big check for $124,211. His prize is half of the June 14 Fantasy 5 jackpot.
A Genesee County man thought he was dreaming when he checked his Michigan Lottery numbers and saw he had won half of a $248,422 Fantasy 5 jackpot.
Joe Taylor, of Flint, checked the numbers right after he woke up from a nap and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The regular Lottery player checked his Daily 3 and Daily 4 numbers, then looked at the Fantasy 5 results and got a thrill when he realized the first three numbers matched the ones that he’d chosen.
The thrill grew when he saw that he’d matched all five numbers drawn on June 14: 01-02-03-12-16. A ticket bought in Wayne County also matched those numbers, so the jackpot was split evenly, making Taylor’s winning ticket worth $124,211.
“I just didn’t believe I’d won at first. I was using the Michigan Lottery mobile app on my phone and I kept closing it and opening it and checking the numbers to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me. I didn’t want to think I’d won the jackpot and find out later that I was wrong,” he said.
Taylor, 54, bought his winning ticket at the Marathon gas station and convenience store located at 4310 Corunna Road, in Flint. He visited Lottery headquarters in Lansing on Friday to collect his prize.
Taylor said he knew what he was going to do with his big prize. “I’m going to pay off my car, then I’m going to buy a car for my daughter and drive it down to her in Texas,” he said.
The other winning ticket for the June14 Fantasy 5 jackpot was bought at VFW Post 9283, located at 16200 Dix Toledo Road, in Southgate. The winner, who chose to remain anonymous, claimed the prize June 16.
Each Fantasy 5 play is only $1. For an additional $1 per play, EZmatch may be added to a Fantasy 5 ticket, giving players a chance to win up to $500 instantly. Fantasy 5 players select five numbers from one to 39. Players who match all five Fantasy 5 numbers drawn win a jackpot that starts at $100,000. Fantasy 5 drawings are held seven days a week at 7:29 p.m. Tonight’s Fantasy 5 jackpot is $105,000.
